OK, let's talk about authors REAL exposure on tapastic.Let's assume I'm a new author on tapastic, I've just uploaded one new chapter and I would like the readers to know at least that I'm here.Now, that's a real problem!

I know where my comic is, I'm the author! But what if I want a tapastic reader to find my comic? how can he possibly find it? well, let's try different ways!

1- I'm actually doing a manga, so I suppose my manga will be included in the famous MANGA MADNESS COLLECTION? Even better, I suppose that I can include it myself clicking a button on my comic editing page or adding a tag to automatically include it in the collection. But I can't. Someone out there is including the comics in one collection or another, and I don't even know WHY a comic is included in a collection or not!! It's not a matter of subscibers, not a matter of visualizations, from what I can see. It's just that my manga isn't there.So, this way is a no go. The reader can't find my manga this way.

2- let's try NEW AND NOTEWORTHY. Well, my manga is new on the site, so I could think this is the right place... right? but what of the NOTEWORTHY on the title? who decides that my manga is noteworthy? and where does the NEW ends and the NOTEWORTHY starts? the result is the same: my manga isn't there either. The reader can't find my manga this way.

3- let's skip the POPULAR COMICS, I know my manga will not be there. it's on the site from a relatively short period of time and I have only a handful of subscribers, so... never mind. The reader can't find my manga this way.

4- the ONLY way to find my manga is in the browsing page, sorting by date, and obviously my manga comes at page 26 even if I uploaded a new chapter only a few hours ago. Nearly impossible to reach. I could avoid this by uploading a new page per day, maybe? But again, no, it appears that only NEW CHAPTERS are included in the most recent update, not single pages, so if I'm doing a story manga, and my chapters has to be 20 pages long, I just can't upload that much per day!! I'm screwed, again.

I'm a bit frustrated about all this, I have to say! I have a manga and I think it's noteworthy (not only because it's MINE!), but it doesn't really matter how good a comic could be if nobody knows that it's here, right?? It appears that tapastic has no place at all for story manga that isn't famous yet, because there's simply no way for a story manga to be seen from tapastic possible readers.

This post by @ametueraspirant is a really good start to let the readers know of new comics under 100 subscribers, but does this incredible effort of a single reader really has to be the only way to let people know that a comic exists??

thanks for the tips!I was on inkblazers (I'm still there till the site is going to shut down in february) and exposure given from the site was way better. it's not a matter of posting on facebook so new readers can subscribe to tapastic, it's about the readers that already ARE on tapastic. they are comic readers, they are eager to read new comics, but I just seem to be unable to reach them. and it's a shame!

you're right, I'm posting lots of pages in one go because otherwise my chapters would be split in 4 or 5 parts, and it's not how a chapter of a story driven comic should be read, haha! you should be able to read the whole chapter in one go, to preserve the pace of the story...maybe I should do as @CyndiFoster and publish a single page as a whole chapter... this is a useful trick! thanks a lot, I'll treasure your suggestions!

I'd suggest the same, to post pages as episodes or if you don't want to, then post it like the pages come under each other, it'll flow much better and will be easier to read when scrolling. It really scares away readers when they see lot's of text in one place with too much action going on all over the screen.

As for the features, don't expect to get in those collections immediately, I got in one after reaching like 300 subscribers, Tapastic mostly features those comics that the readers like and looks like it'd be successful among other readers. It's just a marketing strategy on Tapastic's side, nothing against you or anybody. It's decided by the stats of your comic. My comic didn't get into New and noteworthy either.

I'd definitely suggest to post your comic on Facebook, Twitter and such with the share button, and those really bring in more viewers and subscribers, just try it! Also on Deviantart, post your comic in groups, link the Tapastic page in the artist comments and such. Stick your comic link in forum signatures, get your comic out there and subscribers will come.

Now I'm getting new subscribers daily and to tell the truth I have no idea where they come from since it's been long ago my comic was on the front page in a collection. But I post my comic wherever I can, on Twitter, Tumblr, etc.

As for the features, don't expect to get in those collections immediately, I got in one after reaching like 300 subscribers, Tapastic mostly features those comics that the readers like and looks like it'd be successful among other readers.

that's not really true, I found in the manga madness collection comics with 44 subscribers and not too many visualization. I would really like to know the reasons why you're in or you're out... but i think it depends from what tapastic decides to choose, for some obscure reason. XD

shinepaw:

I'd definitely suggest to post your comic on Facebook, Twitter and such with the share button, and those really bring in more viewers and subscribers, just try it!

you're right, will do! thanks again, reading the post on the forums and your replies I'm starting to understand what's the better way to communicate with readers here.

Ohh you are right, I didn't noticed there are comics with low number of subscribers. But they are also very new comics, and I think yours is not considered new since you started it nearly a year ago, probably it's harder to get recognized by Tapastic if you have such a long hiatus in posting.

Hm it may not be the best suggestion, but maybe try to start it again? So it'd be a new comic, post the pages in episodes and don't post a whole bunch at a time, use the publish later option so the readers won't be overwhelmed by it. There are lots of other story driven comics that are doing nicely, it not something impossible. Tapastic is not quite manga centered like Inkblazer was, so you need to adapt to it.

Hm it may not be the best suggestion, but maybe try to start it again?

you know I was thinking about that... maybe I've started with the wrong foot and it would be better to start again.! the only thing worrying me is the fact that many of my current subscr came from inkblazers, and I'm not confortable to make them re-refollow my manga from the start in another page... but I'll definitely think about that!

The collections are hand picked by the staff (based on quality and popularity, I guess?). New and Noteworthy is part curated, part statistic - the "noteworthy" part is decided by its reception from the audience. A lot of Inkblazers comics jumped to N&N right away because they brought their readers from there.

As we've been discussing lately, getting one of these features (N&N, collections, etc) is just a nice extra exposure, but you can't just expect it (and even less demand it). Getting your comic known is mostly the author's job, and people in this thread have already given some good tips (golden tip: social networks!!).

(I do think it'd be good to add an extra list on the front page with "Recently Updated", though!!)

I understand you must be frustrated about not getting the exposure you've had on Inkblazers (I feel that both sides have had a trouble or two from this exodus), but I feel that your approach has been a bit aggressive. Interacting with your community is also a form of exposure.

My comic, Outside the Box got on N&N the day it went up, so I guess that was a curated decision. It may have been because I mentioned it a few times on the forum before I started posting it, so I guess being an active member of the forums is a good way to get noticed by the staff!

(If the person who put it there is reading this, I'm really grateful!!! Thanks so much)

Hi guys, thanks for the shout outs and sharing my thread post on the subject.

And great additional tips! Like how @kurisquare mentioned, interacting in the Tapastic community is an AMAZING way to build postive exposure and gain new friends/true fans that'll help you share and spread your comic. Try participating in the art events that pop up on Tapastic. Currently there's:

Comic Jam is a game where someone starts off a comic with one page, and the next participant adds one page, then the next adds another page, etc etc. There is no script--anything can happen! (I will start the comic chain) RULES: -After someone posts a page, the first person to reply to it saying "My turn next" will be the next person to put up a page! -You cannot add suggestions for the next person -Have fun!

Hullo! I'm David, the creator of the The DaneMen. As you might already know, I'm starting a new series called DaneTropolis. Feel free to subscribe. That's not why I am here, though. I am taking a little time off from my series and I need your help. I'm looking for artists to make guest strips. If you are interested, send me an email at: danetropolis@gmail.com We'll take it from there. HAPPY NEW YEAR! David

So I came across a fantastic new page that's started on Facebook and I figured I'd put it here for anyone who's interested. You can go check out Art Fight here: facebook.com/artfighters101?fref=ts I want to point out I'm no way affiliated with the running or creation of this but I'll definitely be joining in and I figure a number of people here would be, so rather than try and paraphrase the way it all works, I'm going to paste the text verbatim: Basic Idea: 1v1 fighting scenes with differ...

And there's always the Tapactivities that are a bit old now, but could use a comeback especially from the new IB artists. Or possibly a new activity, @felipechoque *wink wink nudge nudge

Hi! I remember doing this years ago on DeviantArt, but I figured it's a really good way for comic creators to go in depth about our characters; and also we get to promote our comics AND share some love for others too! It's pretty easy: right-click / save the image below (a transparent PNG), and open it on your favourite drawing software. If you are a traditional artist, just draw on your favourite medium, scan it and then photoshop it on the image below. I'll upload mine soon to get the ball r...

Dear Tapastic fellows! ( please think a way to cleverly merge those words ), reading through some forum threads, I realized the amazing diversity of origins for all of us! Having artists and readers from all over the world feels really awesome, kinda overwhelming isn't it? That's why this second Tapactivity is focused on getting to know each other's origin story! Of course, if you don't feel comfortable sharing this kind of info, you can use the characters and world from your series too! Th...

Or try hosting your own art event maybe? Through events like these, you can get more fully involved with the community and introduce us to your art style, comic, and characters (you have an amazing art style btw). It also builds more content that you can share on your comic and in social media to bring even more people in. It's truly a Win-Win situation.

Also comment on other people's comics. Interact with other creators and readers and build friends/fan that way. Just don't spam links to your comic on another person's comic of course. (^_^;)

shinepaw:

Hm it may not be the best suggestion, but maybe try to start it again?

That is definitely an option, though it'd be such a shame to lose the 100+ subscribers you currently have. Try the art events and participating in the forums first before pushing that big red restart button.

Posting individual pages as episodes, like how @shinepaw mentioned, is the best method in my opinion. Gives you more content to post and, like mentioned before, too many pages are overwhelming. I've found myself doing this there if its just a never ending scroll of content, I mentally check out. 2-4 pages in a single episode is usually my limit before my brain clocks out. You can do what many other artists do and when you complete posting a chapter, you can gather them into one episode. The negative to this is you lose all your views/like/comment/shares you had for each individual pages, and you have a giant episode again. But that option is there if you prefer that.

Also you can try creating web ads for your tapastic comic and place them for free on ProjectWonderful.com . I made a step by step totural for that here on the forums too:

Hi guys! @minzinger asked if I'd help create a forum topic on free self-promotion for your Tapastic comic series, using Project Wonderful. I've started doing this for my own series, Oops, for the past month now and it's helped boost my views and reader interactions. So I am here to help! Project Wonderful is a great online advertising site that connects people that want their ad banners seen on relevant sites, with people with sites that want to sell space for those banner ads. However,...

Hope this helps! The better we do as an individual, the better we are as a community. There are hardly any readers that are subscribed to just one comic. So I'm so glad that Tapastic has such a great community of like minded artists willing to help each other out. You guys are da best! <3

like the pages come under each other, it'll flow much better and will be easier to read when scrolling. It really scares away readers when they see lot's of text in one place with too much action going on all over the screen.

@shinepaw makes a really good point too. Your comic looks amazing but the first thing I noticed about it was the horizontal layout of having two pages next to each other. This post from the Tapastic staff stresses the importance of a mobily optimized comic because a large majority of Tapastic readers are on their phones. This will be pretty important if you decide to start again.

CyndiFoster:

Posting individual pages as episodes, like how @shinepaw mentioned, is the best method in my opinion. Gives you more content to post and, like mentioned before, too many pages are overwhelming.

Yes! I've seen more success with a series that has multiple individual pages rather than one big long episode. However, that option is still up to you.

Hmm, I understand what you mean. I honestly don't know how people found my comic. NOW, my comic can be found within a few pages of BROWSE but in the beginning, of course not. I uploaded my first few chapters every single day so I think that was how people saw them and then once I created a schedule, it slowly gained more viewers which, in turn, moved it closer to the front of the BROWSE.

People basically have to look for it, yes? It can use improvement in that area. Possible a section dedicated to very new comics like on Smackjeeves?

(I do think it'd be good to add an extra list on the front page with "Recently Updated", though!!)

that's exactly my point. I think it could be really helpful! it would be an easy way to give exposure to all the recently updated comics.

but I realized that many of you misunderstood my question: my question is NOT how to gain readers in general (yes, social), but how to get the tapastic readers to eventually find my comic while they're on the site! that's what i've found being a problem!it's like tapastic wants you to find your readers outside the community, and I can understand that, they want the site to grow, but what about the tapastic readers? they can't find anything that tapastic doesn't want to be found!

Posting individual pages as episodes, like how @shinepaw mentioned, is the best method in my opinion

this is the best "layout" for a story driven comic, I think you're right. it preserves the "surprise" of flipping a page not knowing what will appear next! and gives the space for everyone to comment the single page. it's a trick that I never thought of before, thanks again for sharing. and I will definitely take a look at the projectwonderful.com site.

Technically, there is a section for "Recently Updates." It's a pain to get to and I'm not sure most people do it but in the Browse, you organize is by the date and it gives you the recently updates stuff. Here.

How often do you update? Believe me, I am not too fond of this aspect of the system either but it is possible to work with it a little.

Hi there! As someone who recently migrated from Inkblazers, I can tell you Manga Madness was created by Michael Son to house the new comics. I'd send him a PM with a link to your comic.

thanks! I was wondering why I wasn't there and now I understand. I was on inkblazers but I already had an account on tapastic (not updated). so I'm not a new author, for them, and I think that's the reason because I'm not actually in the collection!and thank you very much for the interest!! very appreciated!

I think now I can understand the whole point of this problem regarding Chapters X Episodes. I'll try to define some things and explain them. Please, note that these are a personal definition just to approach the point of the topic and I have no intention in trying to create any elite (like saying "you can't play with us because yours is not a webcomic"), neither I'm trying to determine what's right and what's wrong, OK?

Structure and analysis

From what I have seen, Tapastic was created with the intent to be a platform for webcomics. That being said, we can presume webcomics are a type of comic made to be published on the web especially considering the breaks between each new post (being the post a whole chapter, a single or a few pages, in which you can create tension and suspense between each other so the reader will be interested to see what's next) and the structure of vertical scrolling provided by default by every web browser.

Considering that, we can see some patterns among long-form webcomics, like that (1) long scroll seen in Fisheye Placebo and the (2) expectation for the next episode seen in Singmire Haze.

We can see that (1) is a structural characteristic, while (2) is one rather regarding the way the webcomic is written. Both patterns can and are usually used for long-form webcomics involving chronological events and a plot.

We can also see (3) short-form webcomics, mostly gag-a-day comics, that don't have neither long-scroll structure nor usually use the artifice of expectation for an upcoming episode, like Day by day, although some of them have some periods in which a plot and chronological events do occur (in some cases, they occur for a long time, or since the beginning), like in the GaMERCaT and Meet Sally!. This leads us to the slice of life + gag-a-day area and to be honest, it's hard for me to describe and deconstruct them due to the many possible variations they can assume. Maybe The GaMERCaT isn't even gag-a-day, I don't know. As that is not exactly the point of the post, let's get moving.

The whole point

Manga as we know them, have a different approach than webcomics have*. They have many pages by chapters, which leads the authors to want to publish them in a single episode on Tapastic, assuming that an episode means a chapter and in my opinion, this is the whole point of the problem.

For a creator, an episode can be whatever you want it to be. Just look at Singmire Haze and see how @noxfox names his episodes. What the reader sees is "Chapter 20 - page 1", "Chapter 20 - page 2", etc, all of this resumed in a 4-digit pattern: "20.1", "20.2". Also, you can interpret this the way you want: "chapter" can be called part, book or section, for example.

That being said, you have some options, already mentioned in previous posts:

you can prepare and post a chapter as an episode with all of its pages once and for all, which would generate a single notification for your viewers, leading them to an episode worth of 30 pages, for example - depending on how many pages your chapters have;

you can post a page in an episode and then update it later, which won't generate new notifications;

and you can post a page per episode, which generates one notification per page/episode and, in my opinion, it's a good strategy if you don't want to wait one month (for example) to update your series.

This #3 kind of periodicity is used by Beyond the Western Deep and that webcomic doesn't have neither (1), (2) nor (3) characteristics (mentioned above, at Structure and analysis part). They simply write and draw a new page and post one per week, as if you had pulled all the sheets of a manga/comic book and decided to read one page per week and I don't think it's a bad approach. For the webcomic I'm working on, I'm writing it with the (2) approach (expectation for the next episode) in mind but for yours (and many others that face this Chapters X Episodes problem), using Beyond the Western Deep's publishing model doesn't seem to be a bad idea.

Something I'd like to add

There is already another topic discussing notification for new pages in episodes, right? I'm sorry I haven't read that. While writing this reply, something came to mind, so I apologize if this have already been suggested on that other topic.

Maybe what's lacking on Tapastic (and causing all this problem) is a function to group the episodes in chapters. Currently the publishing sctructure is this:

Honestly, that would be just a formality. Each episode could assume better the function of a page now and the division in chapters would make the life of creators a bit easier as they wouldn't need to keep using that chapter.episode numbers nomenclature, as used by Singmire Haze and Ark, for example.

kurisquare:

(I do think it'd be good to add an extra list on the front page with "Recently Updated", though!!)

I think that'd be fantastic!

*note: above I wrote

Manga as we know them, have a different approach than webcomics have*.

I made this statement to sepparate both things, so it'd be easier to understand what I was trying to explain. but honestly, in my opinion, we can call webcomic anything we want. Beyond the Western Deep doesn't follow the webcomic's patterns I listed, yet it is a webcomic.

Thanks for all the thoughtful inputs. While I'm certainly not trying to divert away from the question (we're thinking about this very issue a lot here at Tapastic), let me also throw a random question: how does one's content, just published, get discovered in Youtube or Soundcloud?

I'm asking this because for any content platform with sizeable content volume, discovery becomes an issue and a "directory" approach doesn't scale very well. Remember in 1997 there was a directory of all the world's internet sites on Yahoo.com?

Hmm, good question. Maybe a weekly comic review might be cool to see. @ametueraspirant and a few other awesome readers and creators are brainstorming on this in another forum post as a way to help get unknown comics seen. Maybe Tapastic can help organize it and get it off the ground as a feature on the site? Maybe help get comic readers involved through voting?